Goethe's Families of the Heart (New Directions in German Studies)

Throughout his literary work Goethe portrays characters who defy and reject 18th and 19th century ideals of aristocratic and civil families, notions of heritage, assumptions about biological connections, expectations about heterosexuality, and legal mandates concerning marriage. The questions Goethe's plays and novels pose are often modern and challenging: Do social conventions, family expectations, and legal mandates matter? Can two men or two women pair together and be parents? How many partners or parents should there be? Two? One? A group? Can parents love children not biologically related to them? Do biological parents always love their children? What is the nature of adoptive parents, children, and families? Ultimately, what is the fundamental essence of love and family? Gustafson demonstrates that Goethe's conception of the elective affinities is certainly not limited to heterosexual spouses or occasionally to men desiring men. A close analysis of Goethe's explication of affinities throughout his literary production reveals his rejection of loveless relationships (for example, arranged marriages) and his acceptance and promotion of all relationships formed through spontaneous affinities and love (including heterosexual, same-sex, nonexclusive, group, parental, and adoptive). "Throughout his literary work Goethe portrays characters who defy and reject Enlightenment ideals of the bourgeois family, notions of heritage, assumptions about biological connections, expectations about heterosexuality, and legal mandates concerning marriage. The questions Goethe's plays and novels pose are often modern and challenging: Do social conventions, family expectations, and legal mandates matter? Can two men or two women pair together and be parents? How many partners or parents should there be? Two? One? A group? Can parents love children not biologically related to them? Do biological parents always love their children? What is the nature of adoptive parents, children, and families? Ultimately, what is the fundamental essence of love and family? Gustafson demonstrates that Goethe's conception of the elective affinities is certainly not limited to heterosexual spouses or occasionally to men desiring men. A close analysis of Goethe's explication of affinities throughout his literary production reveals his rejection of loveless relationships (for example, arranged marriages) and his acceptance and promotion of all relationships formed through spontaneous affinities and love (including heterosexual, same-sex, bisexual, group, parental, and adoptive)"-- "An analysis of all the radical love relationships (heterosexual, same-sex, bisexual, biological, and adoptive) that Goethe portrays throughout his literary works"-- "Throughout his literary work Goethe portrays characters who defy and reject Enlightenment ideals of the bourgeois family, notions of heritage, assumptions about biological connections, expectations about heterosexuality, and legal mandates concerning marriage. The questions Goethe's plays and novels pose are often modern and challenging: Do social conventions, family expectations, and legal mandates matter? Can two men or two women pair together and be parents? How many partners or parents should there be? Two? One? A group? Can parents love children not biologically related to them? Do biological parents always love their children? What is the nature of adoptive parents, children, and families? Ultimately, what is the fundamental essence of love and family? Gustafson demonstrates that Goethe's conception of the elective affinities is certainly not limited to heterosexual spouses or occasionally to men desiring men. A close analysis of Goethe's explication of affinities throughout his literary production reveals his rejection of loveless relationships (for example, arranged marriages) and his acceptance and promotion of all relationships formed through spontaneous affinities and love (including heterosexual, same-sex, bisexual, group, parental, and adoptive)"-- Provided by publisher FC 1 New Directions in German Studies 2 Volumes in the series: 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 10 1 Same-Sex, Nonexclusive, and Adoptive Affinities in Goethe’s Wahlverwandtschaften 18 2 Same-Sex Affinities Between Women and Family Redefinitions in Goethe’s Stella Plays 54 3 Learning What Family and Love Can Be in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre 76 4 Asserting and Affirming All Elective Affinities in Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre 148 Conclusion 194 Bibliography 200 Index 206 "An analysis of all the radical love relationships (heterosexual, same-sex, bisexual, biological, and adoptive) that Goethe portrays throughout his literary works"-- Provided by publisher